I have a new 305 v8, edelbroke intake, holley carb, dual flowmaster exhaust system, all computer stuff taken out,new radiator and the list goes on and on with new stuff.
My car will start fine once. First time i crank it. Then i can drive no problems say 10 miles or more come back home, shut it off, then try to go somewhere again a few minutes later the car will not start anymore for a few hours.
:cry: For some reason car will not start again after driving it for a while. Battery is fine, Alternator is fine, i installed a new coil in my distributor, new battery wire from battery. But what is weird it will start no problem first time, its when you shut it off and try to start again i will not. It cranks fine, i got spark I am going crazy Someone please help.
If anyone can correctly diagnose my problem and it works. I will send a nice PAYPAL payment to the lucky guy or girl. Ple :cry: ase keep in mind I am not a mechanic but i learn fast. :cry:

Got tranny problems but ill leave that for another post. :cry:

P.S. Nice reward for lucky knowledgable person.

try loosening the distributor and run the car. get it to act up, then bump the timing back a little and try again. if it cranks and starts ok after this your timing may be too far advanced. you may have to bump it back a couple of times. but first mark where the distributor is before you move it. so you know where to put it back if this doesnt help. and in that case you might check your battery cable connections and the starter.

Could be a number of things. Kinda sounds like your starter is getting heat soaked. Do you have a heat shield for the starter? Do you have headers or a stock exhaust manifold? How are the connections to your starter? Are your grounds clean? Does your battery have a full charge? I had this problem with my stock 1970 Elky SS 396. I added a heat shield and a new / rebuilt starter and the problem seems to have subsided now.

Just my .02 cents. :cool:

If anyone can correctly diagnose my problem and it works. I will send a nice PAYPAL payment to the lucky guy or girl. Ple ase keep in mind I am not a mechanic but i learn fast.


Please, no payment offers here, we do this for fun and for free at ECC. :P

Good luck, and welcome!

if a hot starter ends up being the problem you can get a permanet mag starter. they run magnets instead of field coils and are more resistant to heat than regular starters. they may cost more but speed is only a ? of money and how fast you want to go.

You say it cranks and has spark when its hot, right? The spark should be a blue/white color--if the color is more orange, the new coil is probably weak. Put your hand on it when you come back home to see if you can touch it without burning yourself. If its really hot, that is probably the problem. If not, it may be vapor lock in the fuel line. Check the line routing to be sure its not close to anything really hot and that it's routed correctly. It may be that when the car is running and fuel is flowing through the line, it stays cool enough to remain liquid, but when you shut it off the fuel in the line boils causing a lack of fuel to the carb. Another way to check is to simply remove the air cleaner and operate the throttle a couple of times when its hot to be sure you're getting fuel in the carb. One last thing, if its hot, don't pump the gas when starting; you may be flooding it. Lastly, be POSITIVE that the battery and ground connections are clean and free of any corrosion at the mating surfaces. Good luck.

I had a '61 that would do the same thing.
I had headers on it that were too close to the starter.
What happens is the armature swells up from the heat and is pressing against the starter casing.
Mine did not happen all the time like yours appears to be but,
I carried a small bottle of water and poured it on the starter.
By the time I put the bottle back and got in the car, the starter was back to normal and zoom zoom.
Looking back on it, I did'nt have the money to get a small aftermarket starter that would work every time (still dont!) but it would have been great if I would have hooked up a washer pump to spray on it at the push of a button................
I did think of doing that to put some water on the rear tires to do one hell of a burnout but never did.
Good luck.
C-YA

More than likely you're getting heat soak in the starter solenoid causing it not too want to work, i'd suggest getting a heat sheild or even a remote solenoid kit to solve the problem or if you want spend a little more money go with a high torque mini starter.

Chris

I would have to agree with some of the others i would think that your starter is getting to hot from either your headers or manifolds. One thing that i would definately recommend is that you install a heat shield on your starter. The other thing that I would recommend is to put in a hot start kit which would relocate the starter solenoid away from the heat. It is a kit that you can buy from summit racing equipment and it cost like 25 dollars. it comes with all of the connections and all you woul have to do is buy some wire to extend the existing wires to the new solenoid. The only other thing that i could think would cause this is that you are running to small of a gauge wire for you battery cables. if you dont have it already i would recommend running nothing smaller tha a 4 gauge wire.

I would have to agree with some of the others i would think that your starter is getting to hot from either your headers or manifolds. One thing that i would definately recommend is that you install a heat shield on your starter. The other thing that I would recommend is to put in a hot start kit which would relocate the starter solenoid away from the heat. It is a kit that you can buy from summit racing equipment and it cost like 25 dollars. it comes with all of the connections and all you woul have to do is buy some wire to extend the existing wires to the new solenoid. The only other thing that i could think would cause this is that you are running to small of a gauge wire for you battery cables. if you dont have it already i would recommend running nothing smaller tha a 4 gauge wire.

With all due respect, boys, I don't understand all the comments in response to this post about the starter and solenoid. He says it cranks fine when it's hot. If it cranks fine, meaning at a normal speed and won't fire, I don't see how the starter or solenoid can be involved. If it barely rolls over hot, then I can see the starter as a problem. If I'm missing something here, feel free to set me straight.

doh! 8O :oops: :cry: :roll: :stupid:

Just read your post Martin. Had the same problem awhile back. I found out it was vapor locking in the carb. after getting hot and sitting. Ended up getting a Mr. Gasket heat shield and it was solved. Tried a phenomic spacer and it worked too but had to cut aircleaner size to underhood clearence. Since its a daily driver and not really going for looks I went to the heat shield. Got to put a bigger air cleaner and haven't had the problem again.

Sounds like vapor lock to me. Before going to the trouble of re-routing the fuel line from fuel pump to carb., try shielding the fuel line from the most obvious source of heat. Can be as simple as inserting a non-heat conducting material (aluminum foil?) between the heat source and fuel line for testing purposes. If that solves the problem, you can re-route the line or permanently insulate the existing line. Be sure to use non flammable insulating material! Also, I've only seen vapor lock occur in the fuel line that runs from the fuel pump to the carb., so insulate this line only. Place the insulation between the obvious source of heat such as headers, exhaust manifold, etc. I'm about to date myself but, back in the 1940's, I saw my Dad put a clothes peg on the fuel line and it solved his vapor lock problem. For the life of me, I cannot remember why, but it solved the problem.

Good luck